News

Consumers are becoming more connected than ever, and that includes home automation, where almost a quarter of consumers now own at least one kind of smart device, such as a smart appliance, thermostat, or lights.

Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) released a survey showing that consumers’ preferences for how they access the internet and how they use the internet have changed dramatically – and that these changes have accelerated over the past two years.

IIA believes that now is the right time for the FCC to update and modernize its approach to reporting to Congress on the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability. Because consumers perceive and use mobile and fixed broadband services in essentially the same way, the FCC should now consider mobile and fixed broadband services “functional substitutes” and report to Congress accordingly.

The door is open once again to large-scale broadband investment, but some in Congress are now urging a return of the heavy-handed regulatory treatment imposed on broadband in 2015. That would be a major mistake for the country at large and particularly punishing for broadband investment in our rural regions.